Iconic British actor Sir Christopher Lee has died at the age of 93, according to multiple media reports.

Lee, who starred in many films over his long career including The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Dracula, passed away in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, on Sunday after being treated for respiratory problems,The Telegraph reported, citing sources close to his family. According to The Guardian, the decision to release the news days after was based on wife Birgit Krøncke's desire to tell family members first. The couple had been married for more than 50 years.

Lee rose to fame playing Dracula and Frankenstein's monster in a series of horror films for British production company Hammer Films from the 1950s to the 1970s. His first role with the studio was in The Curse of Frankenstein, and it was the first of 20 films he would make with actor Peter Cushing.

His most famous role for Hammer Films was Dracula, but he wasn't always happy with how the character was treated. "They gave me nothing to do!" he told Total Film in 2005. "I pleaded with Hammer to let me use some of the lines that Bram Stoker had written. Occasionally, I sneaked one in. Eventually I told them that I wasn't going to play Dracula any more. All hell broke loose."

In the 1970s he continued to play antihero roles, including an iconic turn in The Wicker Man and a James Bond villain in The Man with the Golden Gun.

Lee also played Francisco Scaramanga in the 1974 James Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun." Here, he arrives with wife Birgit Kroencke at the London"Skyfall" premiere in 2012.
Joel Ryan,Invision/AP

Lee received the Insignia of Commandeur de L'Ordre des honoring et Lettres from the French government in 2011, honoring his contribution to the fields of art and literature.
ADRIAN DENNIS, AFP/Getty Images

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In 2001 he made his first appearance as the evil wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, a role he would go on to play in four more Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. He joined another beloved genre franchise as the Sith Lord Count Dooku in 2002's Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and 2005's Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Lee also frequently collaborated with director Tim Burton, and appeared in many of his films including Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows.

He was knighted in 2009 for services to drama and charity, and was awarded the BAFTA fellowship in 2011.

The actor most recently appeared in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 2014. He still has one movie yet to be released, the fantasy Angels in Notting Hill.

Lee talked to USA TODAY in 1999 about his horror roots. "Inevitably, people talk about the last horror icon and so on," he said. "It's very gratifying, but that doesn't mean those are the only roles I have done."

He added, "I remember what Boris Karloff said to me, something Lon Chaney had told him: Find something other actors will not do, and if you do it, you will never be forgotten."